Past Event! Note: this event has already taken place.
Opportunities and Challenges in Intercultural Arts Education
November 4, 2021 at 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
| Location: | Via Zoom (see link) |
| Cost: | FREE! |
| Audience: | Anyone |
| Key Contact: | Kathy Armstrong |
| Contact Email: | kathy.armstrong@carleton.ca |
Reimagining the Global Music Ensemble is a two-year project that seeks to broaden the artistic vision and leadership of Carleton’s West African Rhythm Ensemble, motivated by current major cultural shifts including the Black Lives Matter movement. The project will gather together ensemble directors, educators, researchers, faculty, students, musicians, and the general public, to critically examine representation, roles and structures in post-secondary “world music” ensembles. Through collaborative discussion we will explore established and emerging models towards improving and expanding experiential learning opportunities for students at Carleton.
Thursday November 4, 7-9pm EST (via Zoom)
“Opportunities and Challenges in Intercultural Arts Education”
Conversation with Brainerd Blyden-Taylor (Nathaniel Dett Chorale)
Hosted by Kathy Armstrong
Zoom link: https://carleton-ca.zoom.us/j/97723122333
Brainerd Blyden-Taylor is the Founder, Artistic Director and conductor of The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Canada’s first professional chamber choir dedicated to the creation and performance of Afrocentric music of all styles. Born in Trinidad & Tobago, Mr. Blyden-Taylor immigrated to Canada in 1973. He founded The Chorale in 1998, in response to a musical void in Canada; there had never before been a professional ensemble dedicated to the dissemination of Afrocentric choral music. The response that The Chorale has received in Canada and the United States since its inception has certainly given credence to Mr. Blyden-Taylor’s vision.
Mr. Blyden-Taylor has conducted several university, youth and concert choirs, most notably a 25 year tenure with The Orpheus Choir of Toronto. He also works frequently as a guest conductor, having appeared with organizations such as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, Hannaford Street Silver Band, Nova Scotia Youth Choir, Ontario Youth Choir, Central Manitoba Youth Choir and the New Brunswick Choral Federation Youth Sing. He has also worked as artistic director and advisor for the Algoma Festival Choir, the Nova Scotia Mass Choir and the Chatham-Kent Roots Festival. He launched The North Star Festival in August 2017, in partnership with the Yale Alumni Chorus and the Harriet Tubman Institute at York University.
Mr. Blyden-Taylor has served as a member of the teaching staff of the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto and the Faculty of Music, Queen’s University. He has served as a Master Teacher with the Toronto Board of Education, coaching teachers and students in conducting and choral technique, and was awarded a Doctor of Laws Degree (honoris causa) from York University in Toronto for his contribution to education.
Mr. Blyden-Taylor is also in constant demand as a Clinician, Adjudicator and Lecturer both nationally and internationally, working extensively across Canada and the United States of America, as well as in Cuba and France. In addition, Mr. Blyden-Taylor is an active church musician, serving currently as Director of Music at All Saints Kingsway Anglican Church, Toronto.
